Somalia: a short history of two decades of war

SOMALIA A short history of two decades of war. 1989 Civil War breaks out between the government of Mohamed Siad Barre and an alliance of clan militias. Coup d'état A coalition of clan warlords overthrow Mohamed Siad Barre, The warlords then turn on each other, transforming the capital, Mogadishu, into a deadly battleground. BLACK HAWK DOW DOMU 1992 - 1995 A joint US and UN Mission attempts to pacify the country and provide emergency aid for civilians hit by both war and famine. The US turns the mission into a hunt for warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed, resulting in the Black Hawk Down incident of October 1993. 18 US soldiers, and hundreds of Somalis, were killed in the fighting. During years of warlord rule, the conflict ebbs and flows. The capital divides into fiefdoms. Meanwhile half-hearted international efforts to bring peace fail to improve the lot of ordinary Somalis caught up in the power-struggles. 1995-2006 '06 AI Shabaab The Islamic Courts Union, viewed by the US as a terrorist group, succeed in defeating the warlords, bringing a short-lived peace to Mogadishu for the first time in years. 2007 - 2008 Ethiopia leads a US-backed invasion in Somalia to oust the Islamic Courts Union.The move later strengthens an Islamist insurgent group calling itself Al Shabaab. 2007 - 2011 Mogadishu O AI Shabaab grows in strength, eventually controlling almost all of southern and central Somalia as well as much of the capital. It declares allegiance to AI Qaeda and attracts foreign fighters. An African Union peacekeeping group forces Al Shabaab, to retreat from Mogadishu in August 2011. 2011 - present With Al Shabaab driven out of the capital, a strengthened African Union of nearly 18,000 hopes to pacify the rest of the country. In Mogadishu, a semblance of normal life returns. Dates provided by @t_mcconnell Designed by @kyleykim gp 16